Pallet for transporting track ties

ABSTRACT

A pallet for conveying elongated objects, such as track ties, comprises a bottom support frame and stanchions at the opposite edges of the frame. The stanchions are inwardly pivotal, and balancing means are arranged in the region of each fulcrum for counterbalancing the weight of each stanchion when it is pivoted.

United States Patent [191 Theurer 51 Aug. 14, 1973 PALLET FOR TRANSPORTING TRACK TIES [75] Inventor: Josef Theurer, Vienna, Austria [73] Assignee: Franz Plasser Bahnbaumaschinenlndustriegesellschaft m.b.H, Vienna, Austria [22] Filed: Nov. 17, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 199,678

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 17, 1970 Austria A 11353/70 [52] U.S. Cl. 214/10.5 R, 105/381, 108/56 [51] Int. Cl. BGSg 1/14 [58] Field of Search 105/381; 214/10.5 R;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,499,398 3/1970 Murray 108/56 X 10/1959 Henrilson et a1. 280/145 X 11/1966 Beanie 214/1015 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 171,203 10/1951 Germany 211/178 R Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant ExaminerFrank E. Werner Att0rney--Kurt Kelman [5 7] ABSTRACT A pallet for conveying elongated objects, such as track ties, comprises a bottom support frame and stanchions at the opposite edges of the frame. The stanchions are inwardly pivotal, and balancing means are arranged in the region of each fulcrum for counterbalancing the weight of each stanchion when it is pivoted.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 14, 1973 Ell:- l E PALLET FOR TRANSPORTING TRACK TIES The present invention relates to improvements in pallets for conveying elongated objects, such as track ties, comprising a bottom support frame having two opposite longitudinally extending edges and stanchions arranged at the edges and upwardly projecting therefrom.

Such pallets may be mounted directly on railroad cars, trucks and other driven vehicles or they may form an independent tranportation unit. However, particularly in the latter instance, difficulties arise when the pallets are returned empty because the upwardly projecting stanchions take up much space and prevent space-saving arrangements, such as stacking. To avoid this inconvenience, it has been proposed to mount the stanchions detachably on the bottom support frame. However, this involves the time-consuming labor of dismantling and reassembling the parts, not to speak of the power requirements involved in the procedure, due to the heavy weight of the stanchions which are usually made of steel. Furthermore, care must be taken that the detached stanchions do not get lost during the return trip so that no parts are missing at the time of reassembly.

It is the primary object of this invention to avoid these disadvantages and to provide a pallet of the indicated type which may be conveniently returned empty while being ready for receiving the elongated objects for transport.

The above and other objects are accomplished in accordance with the invention by arranging at least the major length of the stanchions inwardly pivotal from an open position about respective fulcrum axes. A balancing means is arranged in the region of each fulcrum axis for counterbalancing the weight of each stanchion when the same is pivoted.

With a pallet of this type, the stanchions may be folded down when the pallet is returned empty so that the apparatus may be transported economically in a minimum of space. The balancing means enables the relatively heavy stanchions to be pivoted inwardly with a minimum of power and with a maximum of ease by an operator, the upward pivoting being equally easy to accomplish.

The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a now preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein FIG. 1 is a side view of a bucket-type pallet according to this invention, the left-half of the figure showing the pallet when loaded while the right half illustrates the pallet with folded-down stanchions;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the pallet;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a detail, showing the pallet in the region of the fulcrum axis of one stanchion; and

FIG. 4 is a side view, partly in section, of the detail of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawing and first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a bucket-type pallet for transporting track ties 1 although, obviously, the apparatus may be used for transporting any type of elongated objects. As shown, the pallet includes a fixed bottom support frame 2 and four stanchions 3 at the respective corners of the frame and projecting upwardly therefrom.

In the preferred illustrated embodiment, the construction of the bottom support frame is particularly simple and useful. It consists essentially of two U- shaped frame parts and transverse rods 40, 4b interconnecting the U-shaped frame parts and spacing them apart so as to form a substantially rectangular structure. As best seen in FIG. 1, the lowest layers of ties 1 are encompassed by the bottom support frame. The U-shaped frame parts each consists of a tubular bottom element 5a and, projecting from the ends thereof, two upwardly extending sheet metal elements 5b. To reinforce the corners of each U-shaped frame part, triangular sheet metal braces 5c are welded to the elements 5b in the comers where the sheet metal rods 40 engage. The elements 5b are of channelor U- shaped cross section having an open inwardly facing side, and the stanchions 3 are pivoted to the free ends of the upwardly extending frame part legs 5b. Support beams 9 have opposite ends mountable in the open sides of the stanchions, which are also of channelor U-shaped cross section, and the frame part legs 5b. The track ties 1 are then carried in superposed layers on the support beams, extending perpendicularly to the beams.

Normally, the tie plates are secured to the ties at the time of transport in the illustrated pallet so that the support beams come to rest on the tie plates while their ends are anchored to the frame part legs 5b or stanchions 3. In this manner, sliding of the ties is largely prevented and the transport of the ties in the pallet is quite secure.

A chain 11 is anchored at 10 to the upper ends of the stanchions 3 to secure the loaded objects in position in the apparatus, the chains being tied together by tenterhooks or the like (not shown). At the point of unloading, the chains are untied and the ties 1 are removed, layer by layer, until the pallet is empty. The stanchions may now be unlatched and inwardly pivoted or folded down (see right half of FIG. 1), the latch means 8 and the balancing means 7 for aiding the inward pivoting to be described hereinafter in connection with FIGS. 3 and 4. After the stanchions have been folded down, the pallet can be returned to the point of loading where the stanchions are pivoted back into an open position (see left half of FIG. I) with the aid of the balancing means, and latched in the open position to make the apparatus ready for loading.

The latch means 8 is provided to avoid an unintentional folding of the stanchions 3 when they are in their open or loading position. The latch means is so arranged that it will automatically hold the associated stanchion in the open position. In the illustrated embodiment, it comprises a latching hook I2 rotatably mounted on bracket 13 extending outwardly from stanchion 3, the latch hook being rotatable about pivot pin 14 mounting the hook 12 on bracket 13. A bolt 15 projects outwardly from bottom support frame part leg 5b, the recessed portion 16 of hook l2 cooperating with the bolt 15 for latching engagement (see FIG. 3). The latch means is arranged in the region of, and above, the fulcrum axis 6 of the stanchion 3, the weight of hook 12 causing the same to engage the bolt 15 automatically when the stanchion is in upright or open position so that the stanchion is locked into this position in respect of the fixed bottom support frame. For unlatching, the operator may grasp handle 17 on hook 12 to lift the same off the bolt 15 so as to disengage the hook from the bolt. In the unlatched condition, the stanchion may be pivoted inwardly about fulcrum 6, with the outside edge of hook 12 coming to rest against bolt 15.

As shown in N68. 3 and 4, reinforcing sheet metal plates 18 are welded to the stanchions in the region of fulcrum 6 and latch means 8.

in the illustrated embodiment, the balancing means 7 consists of a helical spring 19 having one end attached to the fixed bottom support frame and another end attached to the respective stanchion. The spring 19 surrounds an extension 20 of the pivot pin or fulcrum 6, and a radially inwardly bent 19a is anchored to the free pivot pin extension end while the other end 19b is radially extended and is attached to an anchoring bolt 21 projecting from stanchion 3 at a radial distance from the pivot pin extension 20. The spring is biased-or tensioned in the direction of arrow A, Le, in the direction of the pivotal movement of the stanchion into the open position, the spring bias being such that the weight of the stanchion is substantially counterbalanced by the spring force, which aids in pivoting the stanchion upwardly under the bias of the spring. This makes it possible to pivot the stanchion in both directions with a minimum of force expended by the operator.

l claim:

1. A pallet for transporting elongated objects, comprising l. a bottom support frame having two opposite longitudinally extending edges,

2. stanchions arranged at the edges and upwardly projecting therefrom,

3. pivot pin means mounting at least a major length of each one of the stanchions for pivoting each stanchion individually inwardly from an open position about a fulcrum axis, and

4. a balancing means in the region of each pivot pin means for counter-balancing the weight of each stanchion when the same is pivoted, the balancing means including a. an extension of the pivot pin means in the fulcrum axis, the pivot pin means extension having a free end, and

b. a helical spring surrounding the pivot pin means extension and having one end attached to the free pivot pin means extension end while the other spring end is attached to the stanchion at a radial distance from the pivot pin means, the spring being tensioned in the direction of the pivotal movement of the stanchion into the open position.

2. The pallet of claim 1, further comprising latch means for holding the stanchions in the open position.

3. The pallet of claim 2, wherein the latch means comprises a hook rotatably mounted on each stanchion in the region of the fulcrum axis thereof, and a bolt projecting from the bottom support above said fulcrum axis, the weight of the hook causing the hook to engage the bolt automatically in the open position of the stanchion.

4. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the bottom support frame comprises two U-shaped frame parts, each frame part having two upwardly extending legs having free ends, and transverse rods interconnecting the U-shaped frame parts and spacing them apart, and the stanchions being pivoted on the free ends of the frame part legs.

5. The pallet of claim 4, wherein the stanchions and the upwardly extending legs of the frame parts are of U-shaped cross section having an open inwardly facing side, and further comprising support beams for the elongated objects, the support beams having opposite ends mountable in the open sides of the stanchions and frame part legs.

i i t 

1. A pallet for transporting elongated objects, comprising
 1. a bottom support frame having two opposite longitudinally extending edges,
 2. stanchions arranged at the edges and upwardly projecting therefrom,
 3. pivot pin means mounting at least a major length of each one of the stanchions for pivoting each stanchion individually inwardly from an open position about a fulcrum axis, and
 4. a balancing means in the region of each pivot pin means for counter-balancing the weight of each stanchion when the same is pivoted, the balancing means including a. an extension of the pivot pin means in the fulcrum axis, the pivot pin means extension having a free end, and b. a helical spring surrounding the pivot pin means extension and having one end attached to the free pivot pin means extension end while the other spring end is attached to the stanchion at a radial distance from the pivot pin means, the spring being tensioned in the direction of the pivotal movement of the stanchion into the open position.
 2. The pallet of claim 1, further comprising latch means for holding the stanchions in the open position.
 2. stanchions arranged at the edges and upwardly projecting therefrom,
 3. pivot pin means mounting at least a major length of each one of the stanchions for pivoting each stanchion individually inwardly from an open position about a fulcrum axis, and
 3. The pallet of claim 2, wherein the latch means comprises a hook rotatably mounted on each stanchion in the region of the fulcrum axis thereof, and a bolt projecting from the bottom support above said fulcrum axis, the weight of the hook causing the hook to engage the bolt automatically in the open position of the stanchion.
 4. The pallet of claim 1, wherein the bottom support frame comprises two U-shaped frame parts, each frame part having two upwardly extending legs having free ends, and transverse rods interconnecting the U-shaped frame parts and spacing them apart, and the stanchions being pivoted on the free ends of the frame part legs.
 4. a balancing means in the region of each pivot pin means for counter-balancing the weight of each stanchion when the same is pivoted, the balancing means including a. an extension of the pivot pin means in the fulcrum axis, the pivot pin means extension having a free end, and b. a helical spring surrounding the pivot pin means extension and having one end attached to the free pivot pin means extension end while the other spring end is attached to the stanchion at a radial distance from the pivot pin means, the spring being tensioned in the direction of the pivotal movement of the stanchion into the open position.
 5. The pallet of claim 4, wherein the stanchions and the upwardly extending legs of the frame parts are of U-shaped cross section having an open inwardly facing side, and further comprising support beams for the elongated objects, the support beams having opposite ends mountable in the open sides of the stanchions and frame part legs. 